call,ust a short phone but it's fascinating because they are contemplating and really envisioning the first boarding of a soviet vessel that will put this quarantine to the test. and they don't know what the result will be. will the soviets fire back? and kennedy, as he did throughout the crisis, is saying whenever possible, use the minimum amount of force. and he just wants to understand it. they were smart to, because their military brass were spoiling for a fight throughout the crisis. and secretary mcnamara also had a lot of problems on his hands talking with the admirals and the generals. they were trained to fight. that was their job, and they wanted to. and the secretary mcnamara and the president were also doing their job, saying hold on. what are the steps? and they're trying to understand the 20 steps that are involved in the boarding of a soviet vessel. and they were correct to, because any errant shot might have led to the firing of a nuclear weapon back from the soviet vessel towards the united states. and we now know much more than we did at the time, and many of the sub